


Up In The Treetops

by BabyBard93



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, This is pure fluff, but otherwise just some silly nonsense, slight mentions of Ava's clone trauma
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-27
Updated: 2019-03-27
Packaged: 2019-12-25 06:47:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18255944
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BabyBard93/pseuds/BabyBard93
Summary: Sara's over the moon when a mission actually finally goes according to plan, until she realizes that one of the team has brought something back with them that brings up a facet of Ava's past.





	Up In The Treetops

**Author's Note:**

> Just some fluffy nonsense that came into my head while I was trying to shake my muse awake to continue my other story. Honestly I don't even know what this is, but I hope you like it?

As far as missions go, Sara could confidently say that this time her team had absolutely killed it.

Sure, trooping around sub-Saharan Africa in her White Canary leathers hadn’t been the most comfortable she had ever been in her life, but the setting sun had chased all but the most stubborn of heat from the land and they hadn’t been there long. Her and Ava’s carefully planned out net-formation had worked like a dream, the team blending in among the trees as they stalked their prey and for once managing not to trip, blow something up, or otherwise alert the target fugitive that they were onto them until they were, in fact, quite literally on them.

For the first time in a long time everything had gone according to plan, and as they all filed out of the jumpship back onto the Waverider, Sara didn’t even bother trying to keep the grin off her face. The Time Bureau apparently had a particularly high stake in getting the banshee they had been tracking away from the remote villages it had been stalking and allowing an apparently crucial future scientist to grow up in relative peace, and so Ava and a small team of her agents had accompanied them in a joint mission that Sara was damn proud to have not had the Legend’s make a fool of themselves on. As her team exchanged high fives and loud retelling of key point of the fight (with perhaps just a little bit more boasting than necessary), Ava pulled her agents aside, posture so perfect it would make a drill sergeant cry as she passed the well restrained and barely conscious prisoner into their custody.

That take care of, Sara was delighted when the director remained behind after her agents had portalled out, already forming a plan on how to coax her into the shower to help scrub away all the dust that had somehow wormed its way under her suit. Her hopeful daydream was shattered, flirty smirk falling from her face when all of a sudden a red light flashed around the bridge and Gideon’s voice echoed around them.

“Hold on, Captain Lance. We have a containment breach on board.”

Her team broke into a round of groans and curses even as Sara’s hand flew to her hip, drawing a knife, keen eyes scanning the space around her. “What? Where?”

Ava shot her a worried look, opening her mouth only to be cut off by the AI.

“Don’t move Director Sharpe. A juvenile Galagadie has attached itself to your form.”

Ocean blue eyes went wide, Ava freezing in place like a deer in headlights. “A what?” She twitched, scanning her body as much as she could without moving and coming up empty. Her heart crawled up into her throat. Was something about to bite her? Was it venomous?

Gideons reply, when it came, was far more casual than she would have liked.“A small primate, native to the region we have just departed. They spend most of their time in trees.”

Zari let out a guffaw. “Well that explains what it’s doing on Ava. An honest mistake.” She sidled up next to Sara, peering at the Director. “I don’t see it. Wait, it’s not, like,  _ in  _ her or something is it?”

“Zari!” Sara’s hand collided weakly with the back of the hackers head as Ava blanched, her own heart flipping at the thought. “For god’s sake, don’t even-” Her teeth clicked shut as she spotted something small and pointy sitting on Ava’s shoulder...along with another little pointy something alongside it.

“What the….”

“What? What is it? Sara!”

The assassin moved carefully into Ava’s space, shooting her what she hoped was a reassuring look as she drew silently closer. Her whole body tensed, muscles bunching under her skin the the points moved simultaneously, and it took a split second for her to realize what she was actually looking at as they both lifted upwards to reveal they were attached to a fuzzy grey head. Big brown orbs, almost comically large to the proportions of the tiny creatures head stared back at her. “Oh.”

“Sara.” Ava’s jaw was still clenched, eyes straining to the right where she could just make out something on her shoulder, still not daring to move her head even a fraction of an inch to find out what. Her eyes narrowed when the captain  _ laughed _ , leaning back on her heels and doing absolutely nothing to help her in this situation.

“It’s okay.” Sara stifled her amusement, sapphire eyes twinkling as she moved to reassure her girlfriend who looked like she was seconds away from blowing a fuse. “It’s not dangerous. You’ve found a baby bush baby.”

Ava furrowed her brow, still not taking any chances as she turned her head slowly to blink at the creature perched on her blazer. It was tiny, barely the size of her palm, covered in a gradient of white and grey fuzz dusted with hints of yellow. It’s four limbs were equally fluffy, ending in long fingered little hands that were almost as out of proportion to its size as its round eyes were. She was still staring at it, completely unsure of what to do, when Zari let out a high pitched squeal.

“Oh my GOD. Look at it! It’s so cute! Ava, don’t move.”

Ava didn’t, but at the noise the bush baby leapt, rocketing off her shoulder and up to the top of the doorframe.

Zari chased after it, Charlie rolling her eyes as she followed an unamused looking Mick towards the kitchen and Sara did her best to smother her laughter at the expression still fixed on her girlfriends face. It took her, Ray and Zari almost half an hour of chasing and careful stalking to finally catch the energetic little creature, and even then it had less to do with strategy and more to do with it scurrying up Ava’s pant leg to perch on her head.

To everyone's surprise, the bush baby had let Ava pick it up without any fuss, settling down into her hands as they discussed what to do with it. Sara had suggested just dropping it straight off where they had left, but Zari wanted to keep it, while Ava remained strangely quiet - seemingly not having an opinion on how to proceed with what was technically a stowaway from out of time. She finally jerked out of her stupor when Zari suggested that she take it home, something close to pain flicking across her features as she shook her head. “No! No, I can’t do that. It’s...we should take it to a zoo.”

“And what, Aves? Portal it straight into an enclosure in front of the security cameras and hope they don’t notice?”

Ava’s face twisted into a familiar frown, the chastising look saved for when the Legend’s came to her with particularly bad ideas. “Not everything calls for breaking and entering. I was thinking more along the line of hand it over and...uh…”

“Annnd? Tell them we happened to find it and decided to catch it and take it to a zoo? That we brought an exotic pet on the black market then decided it was too much work and don’t want it? Cause that’s what they are gonna think.”

Ava huffed out a sigh, forehead crinkling. “But it  _ is  _ an exotic pet. I can’t keep it, it’s wrong.” She looked down at the tiny creature still clinging to her thumb, head swivelling as it took in its strange new surroundings. “Besides, I don’t have kind of stuff to take care of it in my apartment, and I spend so much time here or in the office…” She shrugged, not meeting Sara’s eyes. “We should just return it where it came from.”

Sara tilted her head, taking in Ava’s suddenly sad expression. “Okay, you’re right. Like I have been saying for the past five minutes, we should take it back.” Her lips pursed when her words seemed to have the opposite effect that she had intended, the lines on Ava’s face deepening as her shoulders sunk. She wracked her brain for a likely cause (or even better, a solution), but was still coming up blank by the time Ava had opened a portal in front of her, stepping through back into the land they had just left.

Sara hurried through after her, grimacing as a wave of heat slapped her in the face. It took them less time than she would have thought to find a group of the creatures hopping around on the ground near where they had departed on the jumpship, leaping back up into the trees when the duo approached. Ava hesitated for a moment, before giving her head a small shake and carefully placing the baby bush baby on a low hanging branch. It clung there for a few seconds, ears pressed back as it stared at her before bounding up higher, one of the adults making its way towards it immediately while the others looked on curiously. Sara grinned, letting out a relieved little laugh when she saw it welcomed back into the group, but when she turned back to Ava she was already opening another portal, movements stiff and hurried as she returned to the ship.

Sara intervened her attempt at making another jump back to her apartment, grasping her wrist gently but firmly and steering them down the corridor and into her room. She may not be sure what was going on, but it was clearly  _ something _ , and that meant they needed to talk about it. She waited, watching Ava perch on the end of her bed, let her make small talk for a few minutes until whatever was eating her up inside came tumbling out under Sara’s patient, loving gaze.

“I’ve never had a pet. Not really.” Ava shook her head, pinching the brow of her nose as she gave a self-depreciating snort. “It’s stupid I know, in the whole fucked up grand scheme of things, but...I remember wanting a cat, as a child. The neighbors had kittens and I kept asking for one, but wasn’t allowed. We had a dog for a bit though. I...I wasn’t attached to it. Though I guess I wouldn’t be. It’s all just fake memories, obviously, but I…” Ava fumbled with her hands, casting her gaze towards the floor. “I can kind of tell now. The difference between the real memories and those implanted, it’s like they’re...not fuzzy. But transparent? Yeah, like I can see them, and feel the emotions associated with them, but they don’t have substance. Like they aren’t really there.”

Sara crossed the room to settle herself next to Ava on the bed, taking her hands gently in her own and squeezing. “So maybe you are really a dog person?” She was trying for light and teasing, wanting desperately to chase away the dark clouds that were settling on Ava’s face and dragging down her shoulders.

Ava chuckled, a little broken sound that seemed to take far too much effort for her to produce and cut deep into Sara’s chest. “Maybe. I thought of getting a puppy for a bit, you know that?”

Sara did not in fact know that, and blinked at Ava in surprise. “Yeah? Why didn’t you?”

“Dogs need lots of exercise and attention and love. I’m at the bureau too much for that. And I’ve never had a pet before, what if I’m not...it was a silly idea. So I forgot about it.”

Sara freed one of her hand’s from Avas and lifted it to her cheek, lightly cupping it. “It’s not silly.” Her thumb brushed away a solitary tear before Ava pulled away, scrubbing at her eyes as she shook her head.

“Sorry. I don’t know why I got so weird about this, it’s something so stupid-”

“You’re feelings aren’t stupid, Ava. They are just as real as you are, and you’re allowed to have them. And I get it, I do. It makes sense.” Sara held out her arms, relieved when Ava returned to them, allowing her to shuffle them back and pull her down onto the mattress alongside her. She pressed a soft kiss to Ava’s forehead, then her lips, pulling back just far enough to rest their foreheads together as she waited for Ava to sort through the turmoil of her thoughts. Eventually she calmed, relaxing in Sara’s arms, nuzzling for a moment into the sweet spot beneath Sara’s ear for a few lingering kisses before pulling back to meet her eyes.

“Thank you.” Sara lifted an eyebrow, and she elaborated. “For being here. And for being patient with me.”

Sara shook her head, eyes soft and fond as she tangled their legs together. “It’s not something you have to thank me for Aves. I love you.”

For the first time since this whole mess had started, Ava’s face brightened, the shadows clearing as she lent in for another kiss. “I love you too.”

 

Four days and one short, particularly boring mission later, and it was Sara’s turn to be the anxious one. Her footsteps were silent as she paced back and forth in her girlfriend’s living room one evening, worrying at her thumbnail with her teeth. It wasn’t that she was  _ worried _ , obviously not, it’s just that maybe she was starting to think she had been a bit too hasty with this plan. 

A slight squeaking brought her attention back to her whole reason for sneaking in here a full hour before she knew Ava was due to be back from her office and she groaned, flopping down on the couch with her face in her hands. This was a terrible idea. What had she been thinking? Ava was due back at any moment, but if she was quick she might just have enough time to clear everything out and…

The sound of space time ripping apart in front her had Sara leaping to her feet with far less grace than she would have liked as she all but threw herself towards the portal opening in the middle of the room. Slapping a hand over Ava’s eyes as she stepped out, and cutting off her alarmed squawk with an unnaturally chipper “HI AVES!”

Somehow Ava managed not to fall on her ass, or let out the undignified yelp that had bubbled in her throat, but she reached out to grab Sara’s arms, intent on freeing her eyes so she could figure out just what the hell was going on. “Sara, what?!”

“Wait, wait, wait. Keep your eyes closed for a sec. I have a surprise for you.” Sara kept her hands pressed to Ava’s face, smoshing her nose a little as she scanned the living room for her target. “Don’t open your eyes yet, promise?”

Sara waited for her girlfriend to give a confused nod before rushing to the corner to scoop up her present. “Cup your hands and hold them out in front of your chest. No peeking.” She waited for Ava to comply, carefully depositing the small furry bundle into her hands and checking her grip was secure before pressing a quick kiss to her cheek and stepping back. “Okay, open.”

Crystal blues blinked open warily, going wide as Ava took in the unexpected gift Sara had placed in her palms. It was a kitten, tiny and fuzzy, soft fur blacker than soot tickling her fingertips. It squirmed a bit, warm and delicate in her hands, taking her in with forest green eyes as it’s small heartbeat raced steadily against her palm. “Wha-what?”

Sara shifted nervously, not sure what to make of the expression on her girlfriends face as she continued to stand in place like a statue, staring at her hands. “It’s a kitten.” She winced as she stated the obvious, mentally slapping herself. “I got her for you.”

Ava closed her arms tentatively, eyes still fixed on the kitten, face an unreadable mask. The creature wriggled a little in her loose grip, tiny paws gripping one of Ava’s thumbs between baby claws and licking at it with a raspy pink tongue. Ava gasped, a soft wobbly little sound, and lifted the creature up closer to her face. It squinted back at her, squeaking out a meow, and to Sara’s alarm Ava’s lower lip began to tremble.

“I know I should have asked first, but I thought you would like it after the other day, and so I..um...I mean you don’t have to keep it if you don’t want...I just thought-” Sara’s attempt at continuing her ramble is cut off quickly by the hungry press of Ava’s lips against her own, and by the time she’d pulled herself together enough to return the kiss Ava was already pulling away. Sara watched, still a little dumbfounded as Ava made her way over to the couch, eyes never moving from the kitten, and sank down onto it. Her eyes were glittering, lashes a little wet, but there was a smile on her face so light and wondrous that Sara almost felt like she was floating herself as she crossed the room to join her.

“I can’t believe you got me a kitten.” Ava stroked two fingers carefully over the creatures head, smile brightening as she pressed against the contact. “Where did you even find it?”

“I got her from a shelter in Star City, actually. Apparently there was a whole litter of mixed black and white kittens dropped off and all her brothers and sisters got adopted, but nobody wanted the black one.”

Ava’s brow furrowed, making a shocked disapproving sound at the thought and bringing the kitten a little closer to her chest. It immediately began batting at a stray tuft of blonde hair that had escaped Ava’s bun at some point during the day, and the smile that split Sara’s face when Ava laughed could have powered the sun.

“We’re going to have to go get some stuff for her. What does a cat even need? She’s so small, should I take her to the vet first? We should probably take her to the vet.”

Taking a moment to enjoy the warmth that blossomed in her chest at Ava’s casual inclusion of her in this, Sara shook her head fondly, pressing a finger under Ava’s chin to lift her head up. “First of all, I’ve already had her checked out, she’s healthy, vaccinated and spayed. Secondly…” Sara trailed off, eyes moving pointedly around the living room, and Ava blinked as she actually took in her apartment for the first time since arriving home.

There was a tall, complex cat tree towering in one corner next to the tv, a fluffy basket by the coffee table and what looked like an enclosed litter tray tucked beside the bookshelf. Several small toys were scattered across the floor in front of a mat that held two bowls, one empty and the other filled with fresh water.

“I took care of that. Well.” Sara’s nose crinkled. “Alright, technically Gideon was responsible for all of this, but still. I didn’t want you to have to worry about it.’

Ava laughed again, tugging the lock of hair away from the kitten as she brought it up to her face to press a kiss between her ears. “What’s her name?”

Sara reached over to scratch the kittens back, resting her head on Ava’s shoulder. “She doesn’t have one. Naming a pet is one of the most important parts babe. I left that for you to pick out.”

Ava eyes went wide, glancing between Sara and the kitten as she thought about it seriously.

“It’s okay.” Sara smoothed down the line in Ava’s forehead with a kiss, rolling her eyes as the kitten immediately to the opportunity to attack her hair when it swung past. “You can think about it. We have all the time in the world.”

  
“Yeah.” Ava settled the kitten on her lap, losing herself in the bottomless blue pools of Sara’s eyes.

“You’re right. All the time in the world.”


End file.
